Teachers' multilingual beliefs and practices in English classrooms: A scoping review

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented growth in the field of research on multilingualism in English as a second and foreign language (ESL/EFL) classrooms. This scoping review evaluates research conducted on multilingualism and the teaching and learning of English. Three search methods were used: a database search in three major databases for education; a manual search in six most prominent and relevant journals; and a citation search in the articles found through database and manual search. A total of 2282 articles were scanned. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and several rounds of selections, 56 articles were found relevant for the purpose of this review. The articles were analysed and discussed according to their research questions/aims, context and methods, evidence, and findings. The findings from the reviewed studies indicate that English teachers' multilingual beliefs and practices vary considerably within national contexts, that they possess more positive beliefs about multilingualism than what they practise in their teaching, and that translanguaging occurs mainly with reference to the language of instruction or students' first language. The study also underlines the importance of arriving at a shared understanding of research concepts when researching multilingual teachers and breaking down barriers between language subjects. Finally, there is little knowledge about the long‐term effects of various interventionist or long‐term continual professional development programmes when it comes to teachers' multilingual beliefs and practices.

Multilingualism in English textbooks in Austria, Norway and Spain

“…In contrast to these recommendations, empirical studies on language teachers' practices in multilingual classrooms show that a monolingual bias persists in language education: despite increasingly diverse classrooms, languages are often taught in strict isolation and as if students shared the same language background (e.g. Burner & Carlsen, 2023). Several textbook studies indicate that this monolingual bias is reflected in language textbooks too, a perspective which is especially relevant for the present article (e.g.…”

“…A large body of research has emerged over the past two decades examining teachers' attitudes and practices in linguistically diverse student groups, with special attention to the question of whether and how teachers take their students' existing language skills into account in finding is that, while teachers show positive attitudes towards multilingualism in general, it tends to be regarded as a challenge in practice and is often ignored in the English classroom (see e.g. Neokleous et al, 2022;Burner & Carlsen, 2023). Lack of appropriate training and guidance is frequently mentioned by teachers and researchers as the main reason for this neglect (e.g., Bredthauer and Engfer, 2016;EU, 2015;Illman & Pietilä, 2018;Myklevold & Speitz, 2021;Neokleous et al, 2022).…”

“…Further studies of English teachers' attitudes towards multilingualism have demonstrated great differences in terms of how multilingualism is understood, how it affects language acquisition, and to what degree it should shape the way English is taught (e.g. Bredthauer & Engfer, 2016;Burner & Carlsen, 2022;Burner & Carlsen, 2023;Neokleous et al, 2022). In view of this mismatch between framework documents and practices, several studies have argued that developers of teaching material play an important role in translating the principles of the curricula into practical tasks and guidance for teachers (Bredthauer & Engfer, 2016;Meier, 2016;Myklevold & Speitz, 2021).…”

Challenges faced by students in online English courses during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…With this, English has become a world language that provides benefits, namely making it easier for us to interact and communicate with other countries [30]. English as a foreign language (EFL) refers to an approach to learning English for people living in their own country where English is not the dominant or official language [31], [32]. EFL means that English is not used in formal communication and/or communication in daily activities [33].…”